2 86 COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BRAIN 



between the associative memory of the wasp and of 

 man. It might be argued that man possessed the 

 power of creating new associations, i. e., the ability 

 of substituting or changing the existing conditions, in 

 order to make a new process of association possible. 

 But this ability is not entirely lacking in animals. 

 When in Thorndike's experiment a cat goes volunta- 

 rily into a certain cage and waits there to be offered a 

 fish, we have to deal with the same apparent ability 

 of creating new associations. On the other hand, the 

 superiority of man in this direction can be accounted 

 for by the fact that his capacity for forming and re- 

 taining new associations is very much greater than 

 that of animals. 



The question, What is the colour of blood ? pro- 

 duces not only one association - - the word red- - but 

 a number of other associations, for instance, the asso- 

 ciation of a wound and the association of the produc- 

 tion of a wound. If at that time the sense-impression 

 of a pustule occurs, the association arises that the 

 opening of the pustule causes the appearance of 

 blood. All experiments point to the fact that this 

 overwhelming abundance of associations which even 



o 



a disabled human brain can form is lacking in animals. 

 One impression may arouse only a very limited num- 

 ber of associations. This is evident from Thorndike's 

 experiments on dogs and cats (3), and from Whit- 

 man's observations on pigeons (4). This small capacity 

 for associations makes the reactions of animals appear 

 machine-like and less intelligent. I think that the 



